If you’re looking for an iPhone, iOS, iPad and/or Android mobile app maker in Alaska – look no further than Catapult Consulting.

Catapult is an Alaska based mobile app, iPhone game and Android development company with a history of making top charted apps. Founded just a few years ago, Catapult has pioneered some cool local apps, including being the impetus and brainchild behind the Alaska App which I blogged about last year. Since their earliest days of success with Tap Defense and Trenches (a top 5 app in iTunes) they’ve been working hard on many other project both large and small.

One of the most recent local Alaska iPhone apps made by Catapult is the RurAL CAP app. It’s a cute little app designed to demonstrate to potential donors the cost of living and challenges faced by low income Alaskans.

Beyond Catapult’s app development skills, they’re also growing a team of developers to provide talent augmentation for other development projects. Translated – they are outsourcing their talents for other large corporations like Apple, Overstock.com and others that need more manpower to complete their own software development projects.

The reason I wanted to call out Catapult’s talents is to highlight the fact that we CAN and should be able to attract, keep and develop great technology companies in Alaska. Beyond our obvious need to focus on resource extraction for Alaska’s economy, I believe we can develop a strong tech sector to diversify the economy beyond fishing, oil and tourism.

About Catapult Consulting
Catapult Consulting produces world class mobile applications and specializes in iOS (Apple iPhone and iPad). Catapult has both a computer gaming practice and a practice for the enterprise. Catapult’s consumer titles (our team has developed Trenches, Stenches, Tap Defense, The Alaska App, and many others) have 10′s of millions of mobile installs and have continued to achieve best-of-class ratings and reviews on The App Store.

Online
Website: http://catapultconsulting.net
Facebook: Catapult Consulting page

Contact
bizdev@catapultconsulting.net
Phone: 907-338-7812
Fax: 866-352-0164

Photo © Mike Prasad

I recently met the founders of Arxotica (a portmanteau of Arctic and Exotic) while attending a local investor, think-tank event here in Anchorage. Their story is incredible and the skin serum is absolutely a one-of-a-kind product.

First off, count me as a big fan of anyone claiming “Northen Vigor” as part of their product’s attributes! What Arxotica has created is both a thing of beauty and a very ingenius “local” Alaska business concept.

The Product
The skin serum is a patented combination of local berries, flowers and other tundra botanicals that are wild harvested by hand from the Arctic tundra near Bethel, Alaska. Each batch of serum is hand picked by the locals and sent to a reputable cosmetics house on the east coast *USA* where the botanicals are melded into a proprietary formula. Beyond the great story of how the product is sourced, the net results are a veritable superfood for the skin. Independent labs have tested the botanicals for their antioxidant levels…and frankly, they are off the chart when compared to the usual suspect of blueberries, Açaí berry and so on. So let’ see… it’s rare, made by people who really care about sustainability and has incredible antioxidant values. On top of this, the fragrance is very subtle and is said to mimic the actual fresh air smell from the Arctic tundra. By my nose, I would agree…it had a very green, fresh and light aroma. Win-win-win.

The People
Two of the Sparck triplets came by on a late Friday night session (just hanging out on the deck enjoying the midnight sun) with the folks attending [Re]:think Alaska. Their enthusiasm, commitment to the product and ultimate goal of creating a sustainable Arctic cosmetic business in their village was infectious.

They have literally built the product and business by hand, which is truly inspiring. The present business plan is to find a luxury retailer to pickup their line of skin serum for the 2011 holiday season. I for one think they will find a buyer, and once they do it’s going to sell like gangbusters!

Moving Forward
Beyond the initial launch of Arxotica, they have wasted nothing in the process and will eventually build a line of soaps, lotions, skin toners and more – all from the byproduct of the botanicals and production of their most potent skin serum. I got a sample of the soap which was great!

With a dash of great luck, good exposure and incredible products – Arxotica is going to set the standard for how to develop locally, market globally and add a dash of Arctic couture along the way. I truly wish them the best!

Where to get Arxotica?
Visit their website, it’s for sale NOW. Get it before Macy’s, Nordstrom or Neiman-Marcus gets the exclusive.
http://arxotica.com/

Photo © Mike Prasad

Having just received my “innerSquare” kit from Square, I felt compelled to write about how their mobile credit card processing is incredibly cool. My experience with Square, Inc.’s software, card reader and service came directly from real-world use during the 2011 Iron Dog Race. 

What is it?
Square is a credit card processing service, software application and magnetic stripe reader for your iPhone or Android smart phone. You can sign up for Free, get the software for Free and they even send you the card reader for Free. So what’s the catch? Nothing really, just like your standard credit card processor they will take a cut of the action. Surprisingly, Square allows you to be non-committal (read: no monthly fees) for a very competitive rate. (Under 3% at the time of writing this article)

So what?
Obviously if you are running a brick and mortar operation with millions of transactions, this is probably not the very best tool for you. If you are a small business, like a screenprinter, street vendor, artist or something like the Iron Dog…you MUST check this out. Here’s a list of the key benefits from my perspective and experience:

1. Dead simple. During the Iron Dog Race we had five of the readers being used by volunteers who were given about 1 minute walkthroughs. Everyone was up and running in no time busy selling T-shirts, raffle tickets, etc. The user interface on the iPhone and Android phone is incredibly intuitive. On the iPad, it’s dead sexy…but that’s another story.

 

2. Works everywhere. For most of our events we were using GCI provided HTC Android phones which worked amazingly well, even out on the frozen ice of Big Lake. We were able to swipe and sell all day long without phone land lines or electricity…try that with your current credit card processor. With very few exceptions (like rural Alaska), we were always able to process credit cards in real-time, any time.

 

3. Fast, simple and easy payment. No contracts or harsh penalties, just incredibly easy credit card processing with payments going straight to your bank account. What’s not to love? The backend tools are pretty slick and can be exported for use in your accounting software. Slick. Did I mention, no paper receipts or imprint machines? Just valid, authorized payments… hallelujah!

 

4. Wow factor. People were probably just as impressed with the Square credit card processing experience as they were in buying something. The user experience is great for everyone involved, I cannot speak more highly of the attention to simplicity in this process. It’s just fun to use.

Using the Square
I won’t bore you with deep details on the steps, it’s really as simple – just swipe, sign and send a receipt. Watch the video, this is just one example of Square in the real world.

 
Get one.
Want a reader right now? If you’re interested in learning more about how this worked for the Iron Dog or just want to check it out in person, come by the Iron Dog office or shoot me a note. I’ve got 50 of them (when I published this article)…come and get one, and start selling, collecting and processing. You can also order one when you sign up at: squareup.com

Found this and you’re not in Alaska? Search for #innersquare on Twitter and find someone in your area that has the innerSquare kit, I’m sure they’ll be glad to share their experiences with you!

Disclaimer. I was not paid to write this, nor was I compensated* by Square to promote their product. I just think this thing rocks. *Okay, I did get one T-shirt that came in my innerSquare kit, but that’s not enough to get me writing about something.

Every once in a while I am reminded how Alaska is such a unique place. While I’m certain it’s not all “that” unique to have coupons for firearm purchases, I’m guessing you won’t see this same circular floating around the Seattle or Portland area Fred Meyer stores.

My favorite part of these coupons is the limitations. For rifles and shotguns, Limit 4 per customer and Limit 2 for all handguns $299.99 and up! Maybe they’re trying to tell us something…should I be stocking up on my firearms? Haha. Anyway, just a funny and random thing that I felt would be fun to share.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

For the record, I never drank coffee until my mid-20s – right about the time I took a full-time job as a new media (web designer) director at Internet Alaska (circa 1997). Through my coworkers, I was fortunate to have been introduced to one of Alaska’s better coffee houses, Kaladi Brothers. My drink of choice at the time was a calorie laden and chocked full of chocolate mocha. This led to a dangerous and expensive habit of 2-3 mochas per day. Several years later, I had developed a taste for coffee – just the coffee. Thus began my movement to drink only Americanos. (The fact that Kaladi then sold Americanos for $1 was also a major contributor.)

Fast forwarding through many years of coffee drinking, experimentation with brewing at home and even a corporate job at Starbucks Coffee – I have truly tried and tested nearly every coffee out there (at least from Seattle Portland to Fairbanks Nome). I’ll just skip to the punchline, the best coffee in Alaska is Raven’s Brew Coffee. Now, let me explain why and how I came to this conclusion…

1. Taste, consistency and freshness. Taste is a subjective topic, but in my mind there is no other coffee in Alaska (or Seattle) that compares. I have some favorite blends, but most importantly – I have NEVER had a bad cup of Raven’s Brew coffee. Even with my subpar Krups espresso machine (at least 8 years old now), Raven’s Brew coffee always produces a rich, smooth and crema topped shot of espresso. Never bitter, burnt or thin.
2. It is roasted locally. Okay, sure there are other roasters in Alaska including some great companies like Kaladi Brothers and Heritage Coffee. Raven’s Brew has three roasting facilities in USA: Anchorage, Ketchikan and Tumwater (Washington). If you are even remotely aware of the value of fresh roasted coffee you should already know why buying a pound of name brand coffee Peet’s, Starbucks, Kiva, etc. from the grocery cannot even compare to the locally roasted bean.
3. Great people, great company. I don’t know all the people at Raven’s Brew, but I have worked with the Anchorage roasting crew on some promotional projects. Their passion is very simple: Make the best coffee. I’ve often asked them about opening their own cafe’s, which is repeatedly met with the concern that running a cafe would detract from their core mission of coffee roasting. From my personal observation: They really do care about roasting, it’s their #1 mission and it shows in the final product.

I could go on and on about the taste, quality and freshness – but I will spare you the details. In short, Raven’s Brew has been on my favorite coffee list for at least the last 5 years. Not to be forgotten, many of Raven’s Brew beans are organic! I still try other beans from time to time and reluctantly drink other brands while traveling, but have yet to find any bean that surpasses the sheer drinkability of Raven’s Brew.

Now, thanks to this lengthy rambling about my favorite coffee – my cup of Three Peckered Billy Goat® is at room temperature (and actually still tastes great). So, in celebration of this late spring snowy day – I’m off to pull another shot.

(Disclaimer: My last business did some marketing exchange with Raven’s Brew – but I’ve never been paid to promote them and I am most certainly am not being paid for this article.)

A short video produced to introduce Anchorage citizens to the concept of working to bring Google Fiber to our city. Visit www.googifiak.com for more about the Anchorage Google Fiber bid. Hurry, we need you to nominate Anchorage before March 26th!

Miracles never cease! After nearly two years of whining, stamping my feet and having near conniptions – MTA has introduced new internet plans that have dropped my ISP costs by $40 per month. Finally!

MTA’s Big Gig internet plans are marketed as the answer to the “power users” that need more data usage in addition to having fast speeds. While I agree there are probably quite a few folks who do nothing but email and browse the web – the idea that “power users” are somehow a special class of internet citizen is really becoming an outdated notion. Facts are, nearly everyone today is uploading images to Flickr, posting videos on YouTube, watching shows on Hulu, renting Netflix or playing online games with their XBOX 360. All of us are now “power users”, so it’s probably a wise move for MTA to respond to this demand now – before everyone becomes a whining noise maker like me.

While this is generally great news, my exuberance for this new plan is limited to the fact that I am saving forty dollars a month. It’s still a sad state of affairs being on the edge of the broadband world. I’m sure there are many who have it worse, but I can’t believe that today, in 2010, that we are still paying more than $100 for 768K DSL service. I won’t go on about the state of affairs regarding Alaska internet options – you can check out my previous posts.

So, the short story.
Thank you MTA for taking steps in the right direction…

First off, the best news about the KTUU iPhone app is – it’s FREE. Giving something away is always a good way to attract tirekickers and followers. So the question is, is it worth it – even for free?

Searching for “KTUU” in iTunes app store was easy and obviously only gave 1 result, the KTUU app. Not putting the app under Alaska news might not have been the smartest decision, but if you already know KTUU – this is not a big deal. Okay, so the free install went as expected, nothing new here.

To some the terms and conditions may not be that big a concern, but this was one of the first apps I’ve installed that came with such a long legal agreement to accept. A minor negative for some and likely a non-issue for most…but what’s in that agreement anyway? So, now that I’ve accepted the terms that will never be read – they want to know where you are. Okay, I gave you my first born and gave you permission to track me…moving on, what do I get out of this deal?

My initial reaction to the interface was, “wow, nice”. Overall I think this off the shelf app from doapps (http://www.doapps.com/) is pretty slick. The menus are well sorted and smooth looking with a nice set of icons to represent the news, weather, sports, etc.

The news content is what you might expect from KTUU. It’s good, it’s local and it’s now inside an iPhone app. I did experience some problems with the app initially, categories not loading and some minor formatting issues that could be easily resolved (story images are too wide for the app).

Pros:

• Nice UI
• Relatively bug free
• It’s local Alaska news under a single button

Cons:

• Free = data mining and banner ads

All said, I would say kudos to KTUU for jumping in and putting it out there. Will I keep or use this app? Maybe, but likely not, only because I can get the same content more timely in most cases from other sources during my regular use of a desktop browser. I still applaud KTUU for doing it.

Get the KTUU app
Download the KTUU app from the iTunes app store.

Looking for a great Alaska iPhone app for travel?
Check out the Alaska HDTV travel app on the iTunes store.

3G is available throughout Alaska Update: 12 June 2010
Many people ask whether or not their iPhone, Blackberry or Android phones will work in Alaska. The short answer is YES, there is AT&T service most towns around the state of Alaska. AT&T 3G service is available in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Wasilla. For Verizon or Sprint customers, you’ll most likely be able to get access via ACS service.

Update: 26 May 2009:
Reports are beginning to come in that 3G is now active in the Anchorage and Wasilla areas. Karen Whitworth mentioned via Twitter that she is now getting 3G in Wasilla.

The debate (and wild guesstimates for the launch date) rage on about whether 3G will ever arrive in Alaska. We’re approaching the 3rd generation of the iPhone and yet we in Alaska haven’t even experienced the first generation of 3G. Check out the original post and comments here.

I spent nearly the entire day at the Wild Berry Theater in Anchorage today geeking out over amazing high end video cameras. It was also a great time to visit with some great people from around the state and those who are now making Alaska their new filmmaking home. Below are a few snapshots from the Alaska Filmmakers Clinic that included a great presentation by Ted Schilowitz of RED camera and other great presentations by Apple (ProRes), Sony cameras and Fujinon lenses.

The attendance was very strong and I believe this event ignited the “real” filmmaking industry in Alaska. Time will be the judge, but it really felt like Alaska may be breaking into the what-was-once-only-Hollywood kind of productions.

After the Clinic, hands-on with the cameras (including the amazingly Transformer-looking 3D rig) and presentations, many more people crowded into the theater to catch the “premiere” of Evergreen Film’s release of ICY KILLERS. This great movie about Alaska’s salmon sharks can be seen on National Geographic channel, check it out.

There’s lots more to say, but I wanted to share the photos right away while the rest of the experience sinks in. I’m personally grateful for the Alaska Film Office, Alaska Film Group, RED, Sony, Fujinon, Evergreen Films, AlaskaUSA (my credit union, yay!) and all the rest who made the event possible. Truly inspiring, thank you!

(Plug: We use Apple and Final Cut Studio for all our editing and are extremely grateful for the support that MacHaus has shown us over the last year. Seriously, if you are in Alaska and want help with your Apple and Mac products, you really need to visit MacHaus. They’re in Anchorage, Wasilla and Fairbanks. Thanks, Ben!)